The Strongest in the Universe
by WolvesOfLightning
Summary: Gohans life took a different turn after the end of the cell games. Taking his role as protector of Earth seriously, he grows up training as well as studying. By the time he turns fifteen he has far surpassed everyone else on the planet. Looking for a way to continue Gohans training, Dende manages to come up with a brilliant idea to use Shenron to send him out somewhere he will grow


It was the dead of night, and out in the 439 mountain area everything was silent. There was only a single house out this far in the mountains, and quite in contrast to its commonplace appearance one of its inhabitants happened to be rather extraordinary. That same inhabitant, one Son Gohan, could be seen slipping out of the house silently and dressed in his purple gi. His mother would never let him out if she knew what he was doing, but he couldn't stand it anymore. It had been a whole week since he had saved the world. Saved the world, and failed his family.

The end of Cell was supposed to be the start of peace. For as long as Gohan could remember he had been fighting and training against one threat after another. Fist had been the Saiyan invasion and then Namek, the end of which brought about the first time his dad was lost. There was a year of peace after that, time in which Gohan wasn't even allowed to train or get stronger. Instead he was stuck at home, studying things far beyond what would be expected of a regular five year old. As soon as his father returned they learned of the androids, and of the threat they posed. Years of training and studying followed, time in which he was at least spending with both his father and Mr. Piccolo.

But then the day came that Trunks warned them about, and from then on it was all one big world ending disaster. Constant fighting, the discovery of stronger and stronger enemies, powering up and winning only for something else to come right back and show them just how weak they really were. Then came the hyperbolic time chamber, and what was ironically probably the happiest time of Gohans life. Even though the fate of the world was on the line, the fate of everyone Gohan knew and loved, he couldn't help but be happy. It was just him and his father training as hard as they could, together.

Then the happy time was over and he was thrown in front of the strongest being in the galaxy completely out of the blue. His father, the man he looked up to above everyone else, had just lost. Just gave up and handed the fight and therefore the fate the world over to him. He loved his father though, and decided to believe in the trust he had in Gohan; even if deep down he knew there was no way he could truly measure up. So Gohan fought, and dug deep, and somehow found the power to end Cell. But he screwed up, just like he always knew he would, and his father paid the price. As did his mother when she found out, and his new baby brother would as soon as he grew up and wondered where his own father was.

Gohan understood his father's decision, even if he couldn't accept it. He would have trained and fought and struggled every single day of his life if it meant his father would come back. He would give up on being a scholar, and dedicate his life to becoming strong enough so it didn't matter who threatened Goku or the Earth. But that would never happen, and so he was stuck in what felt like an awkward limbo. His mother refused to allow to him train after what happened, but he couldn't help it. Training, fighting, martial arts…it was all he had left of his dad. After spending most of his life training for one threat or another he just felt wrong sitting around and doing nothing. He didn't have a reason to get stronger, and after everything that happened he couldn't help but dislike his new power. But Gohan, if he was anyone, was his father's son. There was no way he was going to let a little fear stop him from controlling his own strength. Except his mother wouldn't let him train, so he couldn't do anything about it.

Gohan stopped a few hundred feet away from his home and began shadow fighting, stretching out his muscles and warming himself up. This was the first time he had even managed to do this much since fighting Cell, and it felt good to be drawn back into the familiar routine he felt like he had known his whole life. He was silent as he flowed around the clearing, aware that his mother would kill him if she found out what he was doing. Gohans control was inhumanely fine however, and the only sound that could be heard were the small grunts and the displacement of air as he swung.

He let out a quick three hit combo that quickly transitioned into a roundhouse kick, planting his feet and then smoothly flipping backwards a couple times. Letting out a breath he relaxed his muscles, feeling the pleasant burn of exertion. It felt nice to be doing something instead of sitting at a desk. Gohan might not have been Goku, but the way his mother was acting it was like she expected him to become the exact opposite of her late husband. Just because he was smart didn't mean he wanted his whole life to be consumed by studying. There was so much more to life than that, so many more adventures and happy times that he would miss out on if he sat at home all day every day. If only his mother could—

"Gohan! Just what in the HELL do you think you're doing!" A voice rang out in the darkness, doing what not even Cell could claim and paralyzing Gohan in fear. His face adopted a deer in the headlights expression, and he could do nothing more than slowly turn over to where his mother was, angrily rushing out at him from their house.

"Mom! Oh crapbaskets." Gohan groaned. There was nothing to for it he supposed. He wasn't looking forward to this argument, but it had to be done. He loved his mom more than life itself, but this was something he needed.

"That's right oh crapbaskets! I thought I told you that there would be no more fighting in this house." His mother was steaming. He couldn't imagine how she found out, he was sure he had been silent, but sometimes his mother just knew.

"But mom…" Gohan protested softly, hoping she would calm down. His mother was terrifying when she was this angry.

"No buts mister! I want you to march indoors right now and go to bed!" His mother, used to being obeyed perfectly, had already turned around and was ready to walk him back. Gohan knew, deep in his gut, that if he acquiesced now he would never again be what he was. He would never again reach that feeling he had with his father, that wonderful feeling of pushing himself to his limits. So he did what he had to do.

"…No." He stated it quietly, but strongly. The word carried over the cold night air, freezing his mother in her tracks. She turned around bewildered, seemingly unbelieving of what she had just heard. Gohans face was downturned so all she could see was his hair and his hands that were clenched by his sides. His muscles, so much stronger and defined than any child his age should have, were tightened and almost seemed ready to burst through his skin. Suddenly he raised his face and stared straight at her. His eyes were narrowed in determination, and it was obvious whatever he was about to say was something very important.

"I love you mom, and I want to study and make you proud. But I want more than that too." The words came tumbling out of his mouth, almost feeling rushed to himself. But there was a strength in them that was obvious, a strength that came from the same conviction that allowed him to surpass even his own father.

"I want to train! I want to fight! When dad and I would spar together, those were some of the happiest moments of my life. I wouldn't trade those times for anything in the world." He was trying to get his point across, but he wasn't sure he was doing a very good job. He wasn't even really sure what his point was, exactly. He just knew that there had been something brewing deep inside his chest ever since his father died, and he needed to let it out.

"But that's not all. I can't just ignore what happened mom. It was my fault that dad died! All because I wasn't strong enough." His head lowered again and he turned around, unable to look at his mom as he continued. "I don't want to let anything like that ever happen again. Ever! I need to master my power so if the time comes I don't ever have to worry about you or anyone I love ever again. I won't lose anyone, never again!"

He had raised his head to look up at the moon, and he was clenching his fists as tightly as he could. Slowly he raised his right hand, eyes moving from the moon to his clenched fist. He tightened his grip for a second before relaxing, suddenly seeming to lose all the power and conviction he had just shown.

"I'm sorry for disappointing you mom." His voice came out low and sad, and to Gohan this was more than just an apology about training. He was apologizing for failing her, for failing to protect his dad. Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around him from behind, and he stiffened as he felt his mom hugging him for all she was worth. He could feel the tears coming out of her eyes, and it just made him even sadder. Now on top of it all, he had made his mom cry.

"Oh Gohan, you could never disappoint me, my sweet baby boy." She was sobbing into his back, kneeling on the ground so she was the same height as her son. She pulled herself together after a moment, stopping the stream of tears she was letting out and bringing her voice back under control.

"It's not your fault Gohan. It could never ever be your fault. Whatever happens you have to know that. If you want to train then you can train. If you want to fight then you can fight. You could never disappoint me, not matter what you do. All I want is you to grow up happy and with a bright future. Just please, don't disappear again. I couldn't stand it."

Gohan turned around, astounded at what he was hearing. He expected a stalwart refusal, not teary eyed consent. His mom was staring straight into his eyes and looked sadder than he had ever seen her. He quickly wrapped his arms around her and held on tight.

"I won't ever leave you alone mom. Never." They stood together under the moonlight, each holding on to the last alive member of their family for all that they were worth. Unbeknownst to both of them, this was the moment that would change the universe. Both theirs and another.

 _Four years later_

Gohan loosed a deep laugh, straight from his gut, as he soared through air. He was skimming along the surface of the ocean, occasionally dipping himself in only to fly back out and dry himself with a rush of air. Today was a perfect day. Training with Piccolo in the morning, hanging out with Dende during the day and then playing with gohan and eating his moms food after. It was sunset now, and he was heading back to the lookout. Dende told him earlier that there was something he wanted to talk about later, something important. Words like that usually didn't end well for him, but Dende had assured him there was no danger.

Lucky for him his mom had finally toned down on her obsession with studying. Of course, she only toned it down because Gohan had finally gotten past everything she could throw at him. Forget high school, Gohan had mastered all the college level material his mother could find. She had allowed him to train as she agreed, but in response had doubled down even harder on him when he did study. Still, Gohan couldn't complain. In the end it was nothing he couldn't handle; he was even glad for the challenge it brought. If nothing else, the half saiyan loved a challenge.

Still smiling, he dipped into the ocean one last time before he powered up in a blaze of white and rocketed off towards Dendes signature. Piccolo was there as well, and even though they had just seen each other that morning the knowledge caused him to get excited. Piccolo was his first ever friend, and while Gohan had surpassed his first mentor in power long ago he was still learning new things from him every day. Piccolo was probably the smartest fighter Gohan had ever met, and the tricks and combinations he could come up with under pressure were simply amazing to see.

In the past four years Gohans strength had grown tremendously. His strength in his normal form now was probably equal to that of the strength he had found all those years ago, during that tournament of death. It had been four years of constant struggle to reach the point he had, but every day he was grateful for the choice he had made. Gohan had always been a little timid and shy, unsure of himself and his place among all the legendary warriors that were his father's friend. He had grown though, both into his strength and into himself. He was still shy, and he doubted that would ever truly leave him, but he knew who he was and what he wanted now. Taking a breath he let his power explode out from within him to burst forth with new speed, casually breaking the sound barrier. The boom left in his wake split the sea, and he let out another laugh. His heart hadn't felt this light in years.

He reached the lookout quickly, grinning with joy as he saw Dende and Piccolo waiting for him. Landing in between them, he felt one hand reach up to scratch the back of his head as he smiled and let out a wave.

"Hey guys! How's it going?" The half Saiyan grinned, looking so much like his father for that Piccolo could have sworn he had déjà vu for a moment. Gohan had grown in the past five years, shooting up in height to match where his father had been all those years ago at the 23rd World martial arts tournament. The moment passed quickly, and Piccolo let out a smirk.

"Hey kid. We've been waiting." The Namekian was never one to mince words, and immediately got down to the business at hand. "Dende here has an idea he wants to share. I think you should give it some thought."

"Well if it's you saying that Piccolo I definitely will. Not that I wouldn't listen to you anyway Dende!" Gohan let out a small laugh, pretty interested in what Dende wanted. Piccolo didn't usually take interest in things outside of training and meditating.

"That's okay Gohan, I know what you meant. To get right to it, the truth is I've been watching you train these past few months. It seems like you've sort of hit a wall." The little green Namekian started to explain, smiling happily at his best friend.

"Well, I suppose that's true. It's pretty hard to get stronger when you don't really have a goal. I used to want to surpass my dad, but I haven't seen him in years. I know he's definitely training himself over there in the other world, but without something visible and clear to aim for…" Gohan trailed off, feeling a bit sad. The truth was he HAD hit a wall in his training just a little while ago. His determination was as strong as ever, but no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't find a way to get stronger as he was. He needed more than just resolve, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what.

"Exactly! That's what I thought too. I was thinking about ways to help you for a couple weeks until I suddenly had a great idea! You and Goku and everyone else always grew strongest when you had a reason, a clear and obvious threat. But we couldn't just wait around for something dangerous to show up. So instead I thought, why not send _you_ out!" The guardian of earth seemed excited about his idea, so much so that Gohan was getting a little excited too even if he didn't really understand.

"Send me out? Whaddya mean?" He questioned.

"We might not know anyone strong enough to give you a challenge Gohan, but we do have something that can grant you one." Piccolo cut in now, an almost imperceptible eagerness to his actions that you would never realize unless you knew him.

"We do? Wait, grant me one…? Are you guys talking about Shenron?" The half Saiyan asked, still rather uncertain as to what was going on. He wasn't sure he liked this idea about sending him out. It wasn't like he could just up and leave his mom and Goten like that after all.

"Exactly Gohan. But before you decide let me finish explaining." Dende took back the conversation, seemingly knowing exactly what Gohan was thinking. "Shenron can grant three wishes now, as long as the one of them doesn't involve bringing back to life a great amount of people. With the first wish we ask for a way to make sure, no matter what, that you always have a way back here. That way no matter what ends up happening, you'll be able to come home."

Gohan blinked for a second, thinking that through. After a moment he brightened up considerably. Dende had certainly thought this through it seemed, and now that he didn't have to worry about leaving his family behind he was starting to warm up to the idea. It was rather telling how excited he was for the idea of an actual challenge.

"The second wish would be the one to find a place that you can be challenged and grow. We shouldn't just send you to someplace we have no idea about right away obviously. Once Shenron informs us about the situation, we would then use the third wish to create a way for you to travel there when you wished." Dende finished his speech, seeming very proud of the brilliant idea he had come up with. Gohan was speechless. He was already totally on board and in his mind was coming up with ways to convince his mother.

"About your mom kid…I think this might be one of those cases where it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission." Piccolo explained, knowing immediately where his thoughts would take him. "As long as everything goes right, which is also why we're leaving the actual wish to go there for the last one, you'll be able to travel there and back instantly. It'd be better if we found out if Shenron could actually do what we're talking about in the first place."

In his gut, Gohan had already made his decision. But this wasn't something he could just dive into without a thought however. The more he thought about it however the more excited he got. He had been stagnating here on Earth for a while now. This was his chance to challenge himself, to get even stronger and gain new power to defend that which he cared about with. But more importantly he thought, this was his chance for adventure. Gohan had listened to every single one of his father's stories, both from the man himself and all his friends, and he had always very much wanted to go and have some of his own. This was his chance to finally use all this strength he had been gaining for the past half-decade. He looked up at Piccolo and Dende, his two best friends in the whole world, eyes tightened in determination and an excited grin on his lips.

"I'm in."

It took barely any time at all to gather dragon balls. Piccolo had thought ahead and already had the dragon radar, so all it took was a couple minutes to travel around the world and pick them all up. It was getting dark by the time they gathered again on the lookout, but Gohan was more excited than he had been in a long time. Dende wasted no time in summoning Shenron, the now familiar scene of the sky darkening and a giant dragon appearing failing to faze the two warriors and the guardian of earth.

" **I am Shenron, the dragon of—Oh. It's just you guys again. Very well, name your three wishes.** " Shenrons voice was mighty and booming as ever, but as soon as he recognized them he seemed to lose a little of the fire that made him so awe inspiring. It was pretty obvious that Shenron was rather tired of granting wishes to the same people over and over again.

"Mighty Shenron, our first wish is this. We ask that no matter where he go, whether in this universe or any other, that Gohan always have a way to return here to his home." Dende spoke up, all of them having already agreed to leave the wishes to the little Kami of earth.

" **Your wish is granted.** " Shenron spoke, and in a flash of power something appeared in front of the human hybrid. It was an earring, a simple silver loop with a wolf head figure. Gohan reached his hand out and grasped it, rather surprised at the form the wish had taken.

" **Attach that to your body and you will gain the power to return here at any time. Fear not about misplacing it, once you have attached it to your person the power will remain.** " Gohans look of confusion quickly turned into awe. He handed it to Piccolo who had walked over while he was examining the earring. The former demon gave it a quick glance before moving behind Gohan. Lining up his finger he very quickly and precisely sent a thin ki laser through his former students' left ear. Undoing the clasp on the earring he slipped it through the hole he had just made and tightened it once it was through. Stepping back he saw a golden glow appear from where he had just been messing around with Gohans ear. It pulsed for a few seconds, brighter and brighter, until even those who had grown used to astoundingly bright ki explosions were forced to close their eyes before they were blinded.

It died down after a second, and Gohan raised his arms to examine himself. Nothing felt different but…there was something there, in the back of his head, something that hadn't been there before. He knew without a doubt that if he wanted to he could return here whenever he desired. It eased a lot of stress on his mind, more than he even knew he had. This was a good wish to make no matter whether the other two worked out. He looked at Piccolo and nodded, smiling as he did so. It had worked.

Dende took that as his cue, and looked back to Shenron. "For our second wish, we would like to know. We want to send Gohan somewhere where he will be challenged, somewhere where he will grow. If this is within your power, please grant us knowledge of this place."

Shenrons eyes glowed red, and he seemed to get lost in thought for a few long moments. He spoke after a while, slowly and clearly. " **Before I grant this wish there is something you must know. If your desire is for me to send Son Gohan to this place, then the power it will take for that to occur will take two wishes.** "

This threw the three old friends for a loop. They all glanced at one another with furrowed brows thinking about the ramifications of their actions. They trusted Gohan to be able to take care of himself, but there was no telling what he could find wherever Shenron was thinking about sending him. A place where someone like Gohan would be challenged might be terrifying after all.

"It's fine. Lets do it." Gohans calm voice cut through the tension that had appeared, confident and strong. Piccolo glanced up suprised from where he had been thinking. Gohan had certainly come into himself. It wasn't that long ago when he would have been worried and uncertain about doing anything, much less willingly decide to delve into an unknown world without even telling his mother beforehand.

Gohans confidence convinced them and Dende was quick to turn around and speak. "Well then, mighty Shenron, you know our wish. Please, grant Gohan a way to travel to this place without harm."

This time the effect of Shenrons magic was much more noticeable. The sky grew more menacing as a feeling of something powerful took the air. In front of the three defenders of Earth the air began to rip open, and Gohan noticed that the inside appeared to be made of swirling and shifting colors that took certain shapes for a moment before quickly transitioning into something else. Suddenly and without warning the rip began to compress in on itself; the magical portal shrinking smaller and smaller while conversely increasing its glowing luminescence until it finally became too bright to look at, and he had to throw up an arm so as not to go blind. When it finally died down the teen lowered his arm and gazed at the device left behind.

It was almost comical how ordinary the simple remote with a single red button appeared in comparison to the excessively magical appearance of both Shenron and his wish granting miracles. It floated there in the air where the rip first began to appear just waiting for Gohan to take it into his hand, which he proceeded to do after a single moment of hesitation.

" **With that your wish has been granted. Farewell.** " Shenron spoke one last time before vanishing in his normal way, the dragon balls turning to stone and then scattering across the world in random directions. This left the three friends once again alone on the lookout, and while both Piccolo and Dende were looking towards the half saiyan Gohan only had eyes for the device in his hand. He looked up after a long moment smiling in excitement, glancing first at his former mentor and then at his good friend.

"Well, here I go I guess. Wish me luck guys." He was confident even now, ready and eager for his very own adventure to get under way. This was it after all. Heading into the unknown with not a soul for backup and only himself to rely on. He anticipation grew and grew the more he thought about it, until he felt he was about to burst with eagerness.

The two namekians nodded, a small smile on both their faces. It was easy to see how excited Gohan was for this, and Piccolo couldn't help but comparing his former pupil to his former rival once more. With that excited grin and tone of voice the resemblance between the two was almost uncanny. Gohan would never be a carbon copy of his father the way Goten appeared to be growing up into, but there was no doubting that he was very much his fathers son. He remembered the last time Gohan had been left completely on his own, back when he first took him as a student. For six months he had forced the young half saiyan to live and survive on his own, only helping the four year old child without him knowing in the very beginning. His attitude had been remarkably different back then, always terrified and wailing for his mother and father. The former demon could almost barely believe that this self assured young man in front of him was that same child.

The raven haired half human stretched his thumb out over the button, and with just a moment of hesitation that felt appropriate before such a momentous occasion, lowered his appendage. With a soft click it depressed and all three of them of tensed as they as they waited for something to happen. The silence stretched for a moment, and then two, and then three. Finally it grew unbearable, the lack of anything appearing momentarily causing the fifteen year old to relax.

"That's weird, Shenron hasn't ever messed up befo-."

It occurred without warning. One second he was talking and the next he was falling, the shocked faces of his two friends the last thing he saw of his world. He was thrown into a swirling colorful mess, twisting and turning and not sure which way was up or down or if there even was an up or down anymore and oh god was that his head he was looking at because there was no body attatched to it and suddenly Gohan wasn't even sure if he had a body because he couldn't move or feel anything and sweet kami how long was this going to last because he wasn't sure how long it had even been-

It ended as quickly as it started. Very suddenly Gohan was once again aware of his own body, although after that experience he was certainly in no condition to react to anything in this new place he was deposited into. This became an issue very quickly, as the portal that he was dropped out of sent him flying out headfirst at what felt like mach one. Before he could even register anything about his surroundings he crashed into something soft and went tumbling, taking whatever he had unfortunately happened to hit with him.

He landed on his back with whatever it was he hit coming to rest on top of him. His vision was swimming and out of focus, and it took a couple long moments for the world to stop spinning. When he finally regained his sight he looked up, only to be met by a pair of breathtaking seafoam green eyes. They immediately stole his attention, and he was suddenly unable to either breathe or look away. Very distantly he noted that the pair of eyes he was so focused on happened to be attached to a redheaded girl. A very pretty redheaded girl. A very pretty, very stacked, redhead girl who just so happened to be lying on top of him.

Before he could react, and to be completely honest he had no idea what his actual reaction would have ended up being in the first place, the eyes he was gazing into were suddenly ripped away. Another very stacked teenaged girl-and really what was up with the girls here, wherever that was-grabbed his apparent crash buddy and shoved her behind herself. He didn't notice much beyond the black hair of this other girl before his gaze was drawn to the sharp side of a sword that just so happened to be pointed straight at his throat. He followed the length of the blade with his eyes up to the blond haired teen who was wielding it, blinking slowly as he did so. The blue eyes he was met with were cold and unforgiving, completely ready to slit his throat at any moment.

A silence hung in the air for a few long moments, one which Gohan was uncertain as to whether he should break. He could probably deal with this swordsman easy enough, but the battle hardened teen had been in far too many tight scrapes in his day to assume anything about an opponent he didn't have any knowledge of. So he waited for the three other kids who looked to be around his age to recover, something that took them quite a while by his standards. Still, it wasn't every day a portal opened up right next to you and a human being came flying out. The absolutely ridiculously proportioned black haired girl was the first to recover, and her voice cut through the tension with an ease that was at odds with her defensive posture and tightened eyes.

"Why is it Buchou, that the impossible seems to happen to you on such a regular basis?"

The redhead shook her head in a very confused manner, her eyes never leaving the young man that had just tore through dozens of layers of magical defenses and appeared in the middle of the occult research clubhouse. He looked just as confused as her and the rest of her peerage about his current situation, but at the same time didn't appear to be very worried about the blade her knight Kiba currently had at his throat either.

"I have absolutely no idea."


End file.
